Attendant Care

Attendant care is a pretty simple concept – it just means that someone will attend a patient’s home to care for them in the ways that are deemed necessary by that patient’s carers, doctors and other healthcare providers. It comes in a few different forms, however, and if you’re new to the idea you may be wondering which of those forms is best for you and for the person you’re caring for. We don’t have all the answers – every case is different, and it’s important that you speak to your doctors and work had to do what is best for you and for your loved ones – but we can give a brief run-down of some of the different types of attendant care.

Full-Time, Live-In

Some people – particularly those who live alone – will need someone to come into their home and live with them to provide 24/7 care. This is difficult to arrange in many cases, and can be extremely costly; generally speaking, it’s only available if you pay for it privately and outside of your usual medical insurance. For those who have the funds, however, it is possible, and it will allow someone to spend far longer in their own home than may otherwise have been the case.

During The Day

Many terminally ill or frail and elderly people are able to live with relatives who can care for them, but very often those people will still need to go to work during the day. An attendant carer can come in at those times to look after a patient, meaning that nobody is forced to leave their job and its associated income as a result of caring for someone.

During The Night

People who are at home during the day are likely to either work nights or simply drain themselves with the rigours of day to day care and need a little extra assistance. There are attendant carers who will come in overnight and look after a patient while their usual family carers work, sleep or simply take a break.

Flexible-Schedule Attendant Care

Of course, it may be that none of these categories really fit what you need – but that doesn’t mean your family or home wouldn’t benefit from attendant care. You need to be able to take a holiday and some occasional time off, after all; or you may sometimes have periods of needing to deal with other things when usually you’d be acting as a primary carer. At these times, you might want to look into getting an attendant carer to come into your home on a flexible basis, which many will be happy to arrange with you just so long as you can give them a little notice.